Q) I live close to an existing trunk road/motorway and suffer from the increased traffic noise on a daily basis. What measures can you take to reduce noise nuisance?
A) The Agency has undertaken to resurface over 60% of the Trunk Road network with quieter surfacing over the next ten years as part of the Ten Year Plan. Our strategy for achieving this target includes resurfacing the network progressively with quieter materials whenever there is a need to maintain the structural integrity or skidding performance of the carriageway. The original Ten Year Plan target also included the resurfacing of any remaining concrete trunk roads with quieter materials irrespective of the need for maintenance by the end of March 2011. However, the resurfacing of concrete roads ahead of maintenance need, for noise reasons, is no longer allocated funding. As a result, any remaining concrete roads will now only be resurfaced with quieter materials when the surface requires maintenance.
Q) I understand the Agency has no plans to resurface the trunk road near me in the foreseeable future, but we are suffering from traffic noise which has increased over the years. How does the Agency intend to deal with this problem when the trunk road has not been identified in any maintenance programme?
A) The Agency is committed to addressing the most pressing noise problems at a number of locations on the trunk road network where there is no early prospect of achieving noise reductions through quiet surfacing. These locations were identified in answer to a Parliamentary Question and consequently are referred to as 'Hansard Sites'. A ring-fenced budget of £5 million each year has been set aside to fund a programme of local noise reduction measures called the 'Noise Mitigation Programme'.
Appropriate measures to reduce the effects of noise on adjacent properties have been carried out at many of the worst cases from the 'Hansard Sites' list. There is a forward programme to complete the remainder within the Ten Year Plan.
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